Bangor Savings Bank completes merger with Granite Bank

Courtesy / Rinck Advertising Bob Montgomery-Rice, president and CEO of Bangor Savings Bank, announced Friday that the bank's parent company had completed its merger with a New Hampshire bank, adding four offices and $241 million in assets.

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By Staff

Bangor Bancorp MHC, parent company of Bangor Savings Bank, completed its merger with a New Hampshire bank, adding four offices and $241 million in assets.

The deal, for First Colebrook Bancorp Inc. (OTCQX: FCNH), parent company of Granite Bank, closed on Friday.

Under the terms of the transaction, shareholders of First Colebrook Bancorp will receive $45 in cash in exchange for each outstanding share of First Colebrook Bancorp common stock, for a transaction valued in the aggregate at approximately $45 million.

With the Granite State branches and another branch planned for Portsmouth, N.H., Bangor Savings will have 60 offices and roughly $4 billion in assets. The Granite State branches have already taken on the Bangor Savings name.

In 2017, Bangor Savings Bank expanded its footprint into New Hampshire by opening a limited service branch in Portsmouth offering mortgage and business/commercial lending, along with payroll and merchant services. In March, the bank announced plans to open an office in downtown Portsmouth, at 8 Bow St., by late summer.

“We are confident that the larger scale and broader presence of our organization will make us competitive in the markets we serve. We look forward to getting to know the people of New Hampshire and are excited about the value that this merger creates for employees, customers and communities across northern New England,” said Bob Montgomery-Rice, president and CEO of Bangor Savings Bank.

Effective immediately, Granite Bank President and CEO Scott Cooper will serve as executive vice president, chief New Hampshire development officer at Bangor Savings Bank.

Cooper said the merger will benefit Granite Bank’s customers as the merged banks “combine forces to offer enhanced banking and financial services to key markets throughout northern New England.”

“It will also tremendously benefit our staff who will realize further opportunities for growth and development,” he added.

FIG Partners LLC served as financial advisor to Bangor Bancorp MHC and Hogan Lovells US LLP served as its legal counsel. Sander O’Neill + Partners LP. served as financial advisor to First Colebrook Bancorp Inc. and provided a fairness opinion to its board of directors and Cranmore, FitzGerald & Meaney served as its legal counsel.

About Bangor Savings Bank

Bangor Savings Bank, with more than $3.7 billion in assets, offers retail banking to consumers as well as comprehensive commercial, corporate, payroll administration, merchant services, and small business banking services to businesses. The bank, founded in 1852, is in its 167th year, with 54 branches. The Bangor Savings Bank Foundation was created in 1997. In 2017, the bank and its foundation invested nearly $2.1 million into New England’s communities in the form of nonprofit sponsorships, grants and partnership initiatives.

Bangor Savings Bank is currently constructing a multimillion-dollar corporate campus on the waterfront in Bangor, where it was founded more than 165 years ago. The new campus will consolidate several existing sites around the city, position the Bangor Savings Bank for future growth and house more than 350 Bangor-based employees when completed in January 2019, with capacity for up to 500 employees.